Method of inserting folded sheets of paper in one another.



T. H. TAPLEY.

METHOD OF INSERTING FOLDED SHEETS OF PAPER IN ONE ANOTHER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 25, 1910.

1,116,513, Patented Nov. 10, 1914-.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS H. TAPLEY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

METHOD OF INSERTING FOLDED SHEETS OF PAPER IN ONE ANOTHER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 10, 1914.

Application filed July 25, 1910. Serial No. 573,778.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, THoMAs H. TAPLEY, citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Methods of inserting Folded Sheets of Paper in One Another, of which the following is afull, clear, concise, and exact description.

My invention relates to a method of inserting folded sheets of paper inside of one another.

It is designed for use in newspaper oflices, binderies and the like.

Heretofore it has been customary to insert the several printed sheets or sections of a newspaper, magazine, etc., one inside of the other by hand, such method being necessarily slow, tedious and expensive.

The object of my invention is to provide a method and apparatus by which a machine automatically does, in such insertion of folded sheets or sections, what has heretofore customarily been done by hand.

In the practice of my invention the sheets to be assembled or inserted one in the other are preferably folded with one edge longer The different sections are then placed in groups upon their edges, one above the other, and fed against a stop, the longer edge of the folded sheet being engaged by and the shorter edge extending above the stop, thereby causing the paper to slightly open. The dlfferent sections of the paper are then successively picked up by a traveler or inserter, which, in its upward travel, inserts the lower sheet or sheets into the one immediately above the same. The several sheets are thus inserted one within the other, and, after being so bunched or assembled, are carried in any suitable manner to the usual counting or wrapping table, or otherwise suitably disposed of.

The several steps in my preferred method of inserting the sheets of paper and a machine suitable for practising the same may be more readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is an isometric view of a machine embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a dia gramniatic, vertical section thereof, and Fig. 8 is a horizontal, sectional view through one of the sets of operating gears.

' Similar reference letters are used to desigmate the same parts in the several figures.

The main frame of he machine comprises a rectangular base 1, at the two front corners of which are the vertical standards 2, 2, and at the two rear corners thereof the rearwardly inclined channel irons 3, 3. The space between the standards 2, 2 and the channel irons 3, 3 is divided by horizontal partitions into a suitable number ofsuperposed sections A, B, G. The floor of each section is composed of a plurality of iron strips 4, providing rails upon which the lower edges of the sheets rest or slide, as will hereinafter appear. Between said rails upon suitable pulleys 5 and 24, at the front and at the rear of each section, respectively, arermounted the endless belts 6, such belts projecting slightly above the upper surface of the rails l, as indicated most clearly in Fig. 2. The sheets are not folded exactl in half, but are so folded that one of the e ges thereof projects or extends outbeyond the other edge, as shown in Fig. 2. A group of similar sheets thus folded are placed 1n upright position with their longer edges resting upon the endless belts 6 and are conveyed by said belts to the rear of the machine. At the rear of each of said sections A, B, C, near the bottom thereof, is provided a stop 7 extending between the rails 3, 3. Said stop is of such height that it engages with the longer edges of the folded sheets but permits the shorter edges to pass freely over the same, thus permitting a partial opening of the paper. Near the upper portion of each section, extending between the irons 3, 3, is a vertically adjustable bar 8 from which depends a plurality of strips 9 serving as stops to hold the folded sheets of paper l in vertical position and prevent them from falling out of the several sections. It will be noted that the sheets of paper P in each section are conveyed to the rear and held pressed against the stops 7 and 9 by the endless belts 6. Owing to the rear ward inclination of the irons 3 and the downward slope of the rails l, the papers P are held slightly out of vertical position, as shown in Fig. 2. The shorter leaf of each folded sheet, however, passes over the stop '7 and hangs in approximately a vertical plane, thereby leaving an angular opening between the two leaves of the folded sheet.

Two endless sprocket chains 10 at the rear of the machine upon the opposite sides thereof are interconnected by a plurality. of rods or rungs 11 which act as insertcrs for picking up the sheets inserting there one within the other. The sprocket chains are driven from a shaft 12 journaled in the framework 1 near the lower end of the channel irons 3. Secured to the opposite ends of said shaft 12 are the sprocket wheels 13, 13. J ournaled in the frame near the upper end of the channel irons 3, 3 are the sprocket wheels 14, 14: secured upon the common shaft 15. Mounted in the frame of the machine at the top and near the rear thereof are the two sprocket wheels 16, 16, below which are journaled the sprocket wheels 17 17. The endless sprocket chains 10 pass over the sprocket wheels 13, 14c, 16 and 17, the said chains passing up through the channel in the channel irons 3, thus bringing the rods or inserters 11 in alinement with the partially opened sheets of paper held in the several sections A, B, C. The shaft 12 may be driven from any suitable source of power, thereby imparting travel to the sprocket chains 10 and the inserters 11.

The shaft 12 is provided with a spiral gear 18 which meshes with a similar gear 19 carried upon the lower end of the shaft 20 which extends parallel to the channel irons 3 and is mounted in bearings carried by the framework of the machine. The shaft 20 is provided with a plurality of worms 21 which mesh with the worm wheels 22 secured upon the shafts 23. Mounted upon the shafts 23 are the pulleys 2e, hereinbefore mentioned. Motion is thus transmitted to the conveyer belts 6 from the axle 12, and, during the operation of the machine, papers placed in suitable position upon said belts are carried thereby to the rear of the machine and pressed against the stops 7 and 9, as hereinbefore described.

The chains 10 in their travel carry each inserter rod 11 between the leaves of a folded sheet in the lowermost section A, which rod picks the same up and inserts it within the next above folded sheet in section B, and so forth, through all the sections of the machine. From the uppermost section the sheets thus inserted or bunched are carried by the inserter rod 11 between the horizontally disposed plate 25 and guides 26. The guides 26 are preferably in the form of metal1ic strips which are bent downwardly at their rear as at 27. Beneath the portion 27 of the said guides and slightly spaced apart therefrom are the lower guide rails 28. The bunched or inserted papers l emerge from the machine from between said guide rails.

The machine is preferably provided with mechanism whereby the bunched papers are released from rods 11 and deposited in the chute formec tl e guides 27 and 28. Such inechanis be in the form of a travels T enelesa sprocket chains 10. The sprocket chain 30 is shown in the drawings as passing over the sprocket wheels 31, 32, said chain being driven from the sprocket wheel 32 secured to the shaft 33. Said shaft carries a spur gear 34 which meshes with the internal gear 35 of the sprocket wheel 16. Thus the sprocket wheel 16, through the medium of the spur gear 34 and thesprocket wheel 32, drives the chain 30, the gears being so proportioned that a suitable rate of speed of the chain 30 relative to the speed of the chain 10 is secured. For example, the parts may be so constructed that the chain 30 travels at about four times the speed of the chain 10. The disposer 29 rojects into the path of travel of the assemb ed papers P as they pass over the plate 25, and, since said disposer travels faster than the inserter rod I 11, it pushes the papers free from said rod into the chute between the guides 27 and 28. The operation of the machine as thus far described is as follows: The different sheets Y which are to be inserted one within the other are placed in the several sections A, B, C respectively of the machine, such sheets P be ing previously folded with one edge longer than the other and being placed upon thei e lges in the several sections against one an-' other and upon the convey er belts 6. By such belts the papers are firmly pressed against the stops 7 and 9. By reason of the slight rearward tilt of the papers P, the shorter portion of the folded sheet flaresback from the longer portion thereof, thus partly opening the sheets which rest immediately against the stops as shown in Fig. 2. If, by reason of the nature of the paper, or for any other reason, it be found that there is a tendency for the leaves of the folded sheets to stick together and not thus to partially unfold quickly enough, some suitable device may he provided to positively separate the leaves of the folded sheet, as for example, a suction apparatus 36 may be mounted at the rear of each section A, B, C to suck back the shorter leaf of the folded sheet and thus to provide an angular open ing between the folds of the paper for the reception of the rods 11. Said apparatus may assume various forms. The form illustrated is that of a series of horizontal pipes, one arranged opposite eachsection of the machine. The pipes are suitably connected: to a vacuum or suction pump and each is provided with suitable openings through which the air is drawn or sucked. The rod 11 picks up the sheet P in the lowermost section A. and carries it upward and inserts it in the next section The travel carries the two nhin one another and P of section G, several sec- "Liliana est section, the collected sheets are brought into a horizontal position upon the plate 25 and between said plate and the guides 26, as shown in Fig. 2. At this period of operation the disposer 29, carried by the sprocket chain 30, pushes the bunched papers P at a faster rate than they are being conveyed by the rod 11, and hence pushes the assembled papers I free of said rod 11 and drops them into the chute between the guide rails 27 and 28. From thence they are carried in any suitable manner to the counting or wrapping table, not shown in the drawings. This constitutes one cycle of operation for each rod or inserter 11.- In certain cases it may not be necessary to have the sheets previously folded, though such is the preferred mode of operation. For ex ample, one or more of the sheets, especially a sheet which is to constitute a cover, such asthe cover of a magazine or book, may be placed upon a platform composed of the two horizontal supports 37, 38 at the front and at the rear, respectively, of the channel irons 3, as shown in Fig. 2. The supports 37 and38 are separated from each other at their adjacent edges to permit of the passage therebetween of the rods 11 and the papers carried thereby. The cover 39 is placed upon the platform or supports 37 and 38 beneath the opposed rollers 40. The bunched sheets P thus pick up the cover 39 which latter is pressed by the rollers 40 about said sheets, and the sheets with the cover are carried on and disposed of in the manner hereinbefore described.

It will'be understood that the invention is not limited to the number of sections A, B, C, nor to the number of distinct sets of folded papers placed in each section. For example, the sections may be of such width as to permit of two or more groups of papers bein placed side by side and simultaneously hunched by the inserter rod 11. It is also obvious that various changes may be made in the details of the invention without departing from the broader scope there of as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. The method of inserting a series of sheets of paper in one another in a folded condition, which consists in successively positioning a series of said sheets in folded condition one above the other with their folds opening downwardly and partly open,

. and successively picking up said sheets and introducing the same into the fold of the sheet immediately above, whereby said series of sheets are assembled one within the ther.

a. The method of inserting a series of sheets of paper in one another in a folded condition, which consists in successively positioning a series of said sheets in folded condition one above the other with their folds opening downwardly and partly open, and introducing an upwardly traveling inserting member successively into 'the openings between the partially unfolded sheets, whereby the several sheets are successivly picked up, carried forward and inserted in the sheet next above, and finally removing from said inserting member the sheets thus assembled.

3. The method of inserting sheets of paper in one another in a folded condition, which consists in supporting the several sheets folded with one side of the fold longer than the other in superposed groups upon their edges, with the folds thereof opening downwardly and with the shorter side of each fold in advance of the longer side, advancing the sheets against a stop adapted to permit the shorter side of the fold to pass over the same but to stop the longer side, thereby partially unfolding the sheet,

introducing an upwardly traveling inserting member successively into the openings between the, partially unfolded sheets, whereby the several sheets are successively picked up, carried upward and inserted in the sheet next above, and finally removing from said inserting member the sheets thus assembled.

4. The method of inserting sheets of paper in one another in a folded condition, which consists in supporting the sheets, folded with one side of the fold longer than the other, upon their edges with the fold opening downwardly and with the shorter side of the fold in advance of the longer upon endless conveyors arranged one above the other, advancing said sheets upon each conveyer against a stop adapted to engage with the longer side of said folded paper but permitting the shorter side to pass over said stop and thereby to partially unfold the paper, inserting an upwardly traveling rod successively within the folds of the papers and thus picking up said papers and inserting them within the folds of the papers above, and finally removing from said inserting member the sheets thus assembled.

5. The method of inserting previously folded sheets of paper in one another, the several sheets being previously folded with one side of the fold longer than the other, which consists in advancing said sheets in superposedv groups upon endless conveyer belts with the fold opening downwardly and with the shorter side of the fold in advance of the longer side of the fold, arresting the travel of said papers upon each of said belts by means of an upper stop which engages the top of the folded sheet and a lower stop which engages the longer side only of. the folded sheet, assembling said sheets by a rod having a path of travel between said upper and lower stops, whereby the several sheets are successively picked edges of the longer sides to permit the: shorter sides to slightly separate from said longer sides and thereby to partly open said sheet, introducing an upwardly traveling inserting member successively into the openings between the partially unfolded sheets, whereby the several sheets are successively picked up, carried forward and inserted in the sheet next above, and finally removing from said inserting member the sheets thus assembled.

In witness whereof, I, hereunto subscribe my name this twenty-third day of July A. D, 1910.

THOMAS H. TAPLEY.

Witnesses GEORGE E. FOLK, LILLIAN P. Focns. 

